Positive relationships within the family, parental support, a
consistent and constructive parental discipline style and adult
supervision tend to be related negatively to adolescents deviant
behaviors and their associations with deviant peers. Poor family
relationships were found to be associated with higher levels of
delinquent behaviors, possibly due to the fact that parents in those
families provided poor role models and engaged in ineffective discipline
strategies. Problem statement: A considerable number of secondary school
students were involved in delinquent behavior and they are not doing
well in school. School authorities with the supervision of education
departments and the Ministry of Education have done their best to guide
and monitor students' discipline. Yet the problems related to
misbehavior still occur in schools. A study was conducted on 113 at risk
students to examine whether parental factors could contribute to their
misbehavior problems. Approach: Interviews were conducted using open
ended questions. Data were analyzed qualitatively using in vivo software
to extract categories of parental influence. Results and Conclusion:
Findings showed that the adolescents do have problems with their
families including lack of parental attention, communication problems
and poor relationship between parents. The implications of the findings
were discussed.

In recent years there has been a greater interest in the role of
family environment in the development of children behavior including
protective and risky behavior. For instance, family interactions,
processes and parenting are recognized as significant influences on
adolescents development, behavior and substance use (Di-Clemente et al.,
2001, Elias et al., 2009a).

Once children enter school, they get involved in activities which
are beyond the direct supervision of parents. In such activities there
is a need for more active parental monitoring to get information about
the child. Monitoring practices can include a variety of information
gathering strategies, maybe involving parents' awareness of their
child's activities and also their interests outside the home,
knowledge of their whereabouts and getting to know their child's
friends (Nash et al., 2005).

Monitoring can be associated with elements of parental control like
imposing rules and restrictions on children's activities. But if
there is good parent-child communication, monitoring can have greater
impact than parental surveillance and control on decreasing delinquency
(Cernkovich and Giordano, 1987; Hosseini et al., 2010) and improving
academic performance (Otto and Atkinson, 1997; Elias et al., 2009b).

Good communication has been shown to be important for monitoring
purposes, as more information can be gathered about adolescents'
activities from their own willing disclosure than from active
surveillance by their parents (Stattin and Kerr, 2000).

Family conflict and poor relationships among family members are
found to be associated with higher levels of substance use and
association with deviant peers (Ary et al., 1999). A study by Sargent
and Dalton (2001) reported that adolescents who faced stronger parental
disapproval of smoking were less likely to smoke. When both parents
strongly disapproved of smoking, peer smoking was found to be reduced.
The researchers concluded that interventions for parents of adolescents
would be beneficial if parents self-efficacy for enforcing smoking
policy could be improved. This could also bring about adolescents
self-efficacy for refusing to smoke to also increase.

In another study it was shown that parental guidance can reduce
adolescents risk taking behavior. Adolescents who reported satisfactory
relationships with their parents were less likely to get engaged in
sexual activity, involved in gangs or use tobacco, alcohol or other
drugs (Nelson et al., 1999). When parents can communicate their
expectations regarding avoidance of certain risky behaviors, there was a
significant positive correlation between parental expectations and
adolescents behavior. This shows that when adolescents perceived
accurately their parents' expectations, they were more likely to
conform by avoiding risky behaviors.

Social Cognitive theory (Bandura, 1985), suggests that behavior of
friends and family members influence adolescents behavior by providing
reinforcement for the behavior and by modeling the outcomes associated
with the behavior. For example, smoking friends can expose a student to
the immediate positive outcomes associated with smoking such as cool
image or group membership, factors that can draw a young person into
trying smoking.

A study conducted in Taiwan (Wu et al., 2007) found that students
with a strong family connection were less likely to use substances and
to be part of a strong peer group. They were more likely to have high
academic expectations and to study hard. Thus in Taiwan it was found
that the family was protective against substance use by keeping
adolescents occupied with family and school activities.

Given the above background, it is the intention of this study to
explore some relevant parental factors which could contribute to
adolescents' misbehavior. It is hypothesized that a positive family
environment which consists of good parent-child relationships, parental
acceptance and parental monitoring would reduce the negative impact of
peer influence on adolescents' misbehavior and reduces other social
problems.

METERIALS AND METHODS

In order to get an in depth explanation regarding parental
influence in adolescents' misbehavior, a qualitative method was
used. Merriam (1998) has emphasized that the qualitative study is the
most common form of research employed by researchers to discover and
understand a phenomenon from the perspectives and world view of the
people involved. The method utilized was the semi-structured in depth
interviews with selected respondents. The sample were 113 Form Four
students who were identified by school counselors from 25 secondary
schools selected through cluster sampling from five different zones in
Malaysia. The study focused on form four students as literature has
shown that the adolescent population is at risk of academic failure and
other behavioral problems.

Procedure: Data were collected after approval from the Ministry of
Education and the States' Education Departments were given. Each
respondent signed a consent letter for the interview to be tape
recorded. At risk students in this study referred to students with low
academic performance and were involved in discipline problems. On
average five respondents were interviewed from each school. The
distribution of respondents interviewed according to zones is shown in
Table 1.

Data collection: Interviews were conducted using open-ended
questions. Respondents were asked on parental factors that they
perceived to be related to their involvement in misbehavior, their
feelings regarding their involvement and their expectations. The average
duration for each interview was about 40 minutes. All interviews were
transcribed verbatim.

Data analysis: The raw data in the form of transcribed interviews
were analyzed using the Nvivo software to extract categories of parental
influence. These categories were explored further in the transcribed
interviews of all 113 respondents until saturation point, that is, until
no new categories were found from the data (Strauss and Corbin, 1990).

Findings: Parental factors related to adolescents' misbehavior
can be divided into four categories as follows:

* Parental supervision and monitoring

* Communication problems

* Poor parenting practices

* Family conflicts

Parental supervision and monitoring: The importance of parental
supervision in the development of children and adolescents has been
established through research. Good supervision by parents generally will
have positive effects on their children's development. Monitoring
practices include a variety of information gathering strategies,
generally involving parent's awareness of their children's
activities and interests outside the home, knowledge of their
whereabouts and acquaintance with their child's friends.

Some of the respondents in the study indicated that their parents
are busy and have no time for them. Their activities are not being
supervised at all. The following excerpts from the interview indicate
their views regarding parental supervision and monitoring:

Communication problems/poor relationships: Good parent-child
communications may have a great impact on decreasing delinquency,
reducing substance use and improving academic performance (Otto and
Atkinson, 1997). Communication between parents and their children is a
very crucial aspect in developing a happy atmosphere in the homes.
Nevertheless what is happening in reality is far from reaching the ideal
level. The excerpts below reflect the existing relationships between
parents and their children:

Poor parenting practices: Good parenting practices will have
positive effects on the development of children. Parents must understand
the needs of their children at different stages. But if they do not
fulfill the needs required by the children it is likely that children
will develop problems either in their behavior or in adapting themselves
in different situations. The excerpts below reflect some of the problems
faced by respondents in this study in relation to parenting practices:

Family conflicts: Conflicts between family members are common but
when they are too frequent it can create a situation which is unhealthy
for children's development. For positive development of children,
parents need to minimize conflicts between them. The following excerpts
reflect the conditions that the respondents have to face in their daily
lives:

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The above categories of parental factors are undoubtedly related to
adolescent's misbehavior. The respondents in the study have
experienced some misbehavior and they were caught in school for getting
involved in acts which are against the school rules. Other than parental
factors adolescents' misbehavior can also be influenced by other
variables such as the school factor or their peer group. However as
parents the responsibility of bringing up children is still on their
shoulders whether or not the children are also under the influence of
other external factors.

The findings of this study confirm the literature on parental
factors in relation to adolescents' misbehavior. For instance the
findings of this study confirms that of Ary et al. (1999) which found
that family conflicts and poor relationships among family members are
associated with higher levels of substance use and association with
deviant peers. The findings of the present study also concurs with that
of Prinstein et al. (2001) which found that family dysfunction and other
psychosocial stressors seem to function as cumulative risk factors that
can make adolescents more vulnerable to the negative influences of
peers.

The findings of the study indicate that problem adolescents come
from problem homes. Thus in order to help the adolescents, the school
needs to plan some intervention programs which involve the parents. The
parents need guidance in parenting skills so that they will practice the
appropriate methods in handling their children. The adolescents too need
some rehabilitation program which will benefit them when they are still
in school and also when they leave school to be employed. It becomes the
responsibility of the school, society including the non government
organizations to look at the problem in a holistic manner and plan some
practical programs both for the parents and adolescents. Adolescents are
still in the process of learning and while doing so they make many
mistakes. It is the responsibility of adults to make the necessary
corrections especially their own children.

Schools should also try to build supportive learning environment
with a caring atmosphere. There should be a close relationship between
teachers and students to facilitate students to seek help when needed.
With a more conducive environment, students would appreciate teachers
and schools better and will be involved in the learning process and less
in anti-social behaviors. The school can also assist the parents of
problem children in giving them guidance to improve their understanding
of their children. A favorable relationship between parents and the
school will bring about positive effects on the problem adolescents
especially when they grew up as adults in the future.

CONCLUSION

The family undoubtedly is the most important unit especially in
fostering and monitoring behavioral development among adolescents. Hence
parents should spare more attention to the growing needs of their
adolescents children, know who their friends are, have more quality
time, for adolescents just like young children need to be appreciated
and have a sense of belonging. Parent Teacher Associations are very
relevant in helping parents get involved in their children's school
as well as social activities. Activities involving parents, teachers and
students should be conducted from time to time to establish networking
between the school and the family which at the same time can tackle the
problem of at risk students.

'My parents don't care about me. If I come back late
at night, sometimes I get scolded. They know that I went
for illegal racing but they do not take any action.
They let me use the motorbike.' (R28)
'My father works outstation. My mother is busy running
a business in a restaurant. There is no one at home
during the day so I am free to do what I like. At
night I go out to smoke and watch people gambling'. (R30)
'My parents are divorced. I am staying with my mother.
My mother is busy. She works as a cook in a hotel. My
sister is also working. Everyday my mother gives me I
money to spend. Normally, after school, will buy lunch
and eat with friends as there is no food at home'. (R51)
'My parents are divorced. I am staying with my father
and step mother. My father does not care about me, even
my basic needs. Whether I stay home or not, it does
not matter. I spent a lot of time outside the home and
my father does not care about me'. (R52)

'My parents are not on talking terms. They always
quarrel and they do not understand each other. My
father beats my mother and sometimes beats me. I
am so worried about my future.' (R13)
'I have problems with my father. I don't even talk
to him. My father does not eat together with us. He
takes his meals outside. Whenever I go out, I don't tell
my father. I always tell lies in order to go out with friends
and have fun. Otherwise he will not allow me to go out.' (R27)
'After I was involved in a police case involving drugs, my
father does not speak to me. Every time I come home he
avoids talking to me.' (R38)
'My parents always quarrel and are not on talking terms. They
quarrel over money as my father is working in a factory with
weekly pay and very difficult to make ends meet.' (R73)

'I feel my mother does not love me. She always scold me when I come
home late or whenever I go out. She also scolds me when my friends
come to the house.' (R25):
'I was expelled from school but my parents did not encourage me to go
back to school. They are not concerned with their children's
schooling.' (R31)
'I feel I do not have enough love and attention from my parents' (R61)
'I am not happy with the different ways my mother treat us.' (R69)
'I am not allowed to go out with friends. My mother is very strict. I
am not happy with my family. They have strict rules. But I still
go out with friends, drink alcohol and fight to release tensions.'
(R80)
'My father used to scold and cane his children'. (R90)

'My father gambles a lot. When he is short of money, he will ask from
my mother and they will quarrel. I cannot concentrate on my studies
because I feel the tension and always think of my family
problem.' (R10)
'My parents always quarrel even over the children. I have a big family
and my father is a labourer while my mother is a shoe
seamstress.' (R30)
'My parents are divorced and I stay with my stepmother. I am not on
good terms with my father.' (R51)
'My parents always quarrel and not talking to each other. We, the
children become the victims and often get scolded. We feel like
running away from home.' (R73)